Lisa Eichhorn

When a prominent doctor is murdered and his wife (guest star Lisa Eichhorn) is raped, Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) look to the dead man's estranged and troubled son from a previous marriage and a disgruntled former patient as likely suspects. But when the same rapist attacks the dead doctor's former mistress (guest star Liza Weil), a complicated series of relationships and events begins to unfold, as both the wife and mistress face unexpected scrutiny.

The murder of a child services worker and a deputy mayor first has Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) tracking a physically abusive man until they discover the female victim's special interest in a child prodigy (as Robbie, Liam Aiken) whose ambitious father (as David, Tim Guinee ) has pushed his son into increasingly difficult and lucrative academic competition. As Goren probes deeper into the boy's vulnerable psyche, he believes that the social worker was going to veto the baby Einstein's admission into a prestigious, accelerated school. Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance also star.

Faith Alexander's unannounced visit to her wealthy Uncle Rex's estate turns into quite a surprise, indeed. Everyone there thinks she died in a plane crash three years earlier. When Rex's body turns up, his would-be heirs engage in a battle of wills that exposes plenty of motives for murder.

Alice Cushman (Claire Lautier), a beat cop in the 204, is shot as she exits a diner frequented by her colleagues. A fellow officer, Al Brennan (Chris Tardio), was at the scene (they had a brief extramarital fling) but no one knows who would want to kill Alice, a mother of a young child. Witnesses saw a blue car fleeing the scene, and when a nearby traffic accident arouses suspicion, they are able to get enough information from the BMW hit by the blue car (by analyzing the paint, which gives data on the type of car) and a partial identification from the license plate to find their vehicle. It's registered to Janet Thomas (Oni Faida Lampley), a nurse who claims her car was stolen.

A car bomb explodes in Liverpool and Zoe is sent undercover to investigate. Tom's life gets complicated when he falls in love with a woman he met while working undercover.